Export exemptions updated to include meat, cotton, cotton yarn and exports subject to minimum export price or duty.
Amends Notification No. 6/2013-Service Tax by inserting exports of Meat and Meat Products, Cotton, Cotton Yarn and exports subject to Minimum Export Price or Export Duty into paragraph 3, condition (a), adding parallel entries in both provisos and linking certain insertions to the relevant paragraph of the Foreign Trade Policy.

Epayment threshold lowered, expanding mandatory electronic payments for more service taxpayers effective January 2014 under amended Service Tax Rules.
The amendment substitutes the proviso to rule 6(2) of the Service Tax Rules, 1994 to lower the epayment threshold, expanding the class of taxpayers required to remit service tax electronically; the change is made under the Finance Act and comes into force on the first day of January following notification.

SEZ reporting obligations: SEZ units and developers must file Form A-3 quarterly reporting specified services received without tax.
The amendment requires the SEZ Unit or Developer to furnish to the jurisdictional Superintendent of Central Excise a quarterly statement in Form A-3 detailing specified services received without payment of service tax, to be filed by the 30th day of the month following each quarter; a transitional deadline requires the July-September 2013 quarter statement to be furnished by 15th December 2013.

Service tax amendment: canteen food or beverage services in air-conditioned or centrally heated factories specified for notification inclusion.
Inserts entry 19A into Notification No.25/2012-Service Tax: "Services provided in relation to serving of food or beverages by a canteen maintained in a factory covered under the Factories Act, 1948, having the facility of air-conditioning or central air-heating at any time during the year." The amendment is effected under section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994 by Notification No.14/2013-Service Tax dated 22nd October 2013.

Service tax amendment expands covered services to those provided by National Skill Development Corporation and approved partners under skill schemes.
The Central Government amends the principal Service Tax notification to insert Entry 9A, covering any services provided by the National Skill Development Corporation, a Sector Skill Council approved by that Corporation, an assessment agency approved by the Sector Skill Council or the Corporation, or a training partner approved by the Corporation or the Sector Skill Council, when such services relate to the National Skill Development Programme, a vocational skill development course under the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme, or any other scheme implemented by the Corporation.

Exemption on services to SEZ units allows ab initio non payment or refund of service tax subject to approval and conditions.
Exemption from service tax and applicable cesses is granted for services received by SEZ Units or Developers and used for authorised operations, either by refund of tax paid or by permitting ab initio non payment where services are exclusively used. Claimants must obtain Approval Committee approval of specified services, file Form A 1 and receive Form A 2 authorisation for non payment, provide the authorisation to service providers, maintain records, file quarterly Form A 3 returns, and, where refund is sought, apply in Form A 4 within prescribed timelines; refunds and distribution with DTA units follow CENVAT rule 7.

Export entitlement calculation revised: incremental growth must be measured per IEC and specified export categories are excluded.
A new proviso requires computation of export performance and entitlement under paragraphs 3.14.4 or 3.14.5 of the Foreign Trade Policy to be based on incremental growth for each exporter (IEC holder) without combining group company exports or transferring performance between IECs, measured in freely convertible currency to designated markets. A specified list of export categories is excluded from calculation and entitlement, including imports/trans-shipment, SEZ/EOU/EHTP/STPI/BTP/FTWZ-origin exports, deemed exports, service and third-party exports, precious metals and stones, ores, cereals, sugar, crude petroleum products, milk products, exports on another's behalf, supplies to SEZ units, items requiring export authorization (except SCOMET), meat products, exports to certain jurisdictions, and SEZ/EOU/etc. products exported through DTA units.

Voluntary service tax compliance scheme requires registration, specific declaration and acknowledgement forms, and prescribed payment procedures.
The rules require that declarants be registered under the Service Tax Rules if not already registered; declarations must be made in Form VCES-1 with the authority issuing Form VCES-2 acknowledgement within seven working days. Tax dues and applicable interest must be paid to the Central Government as prescribed for service tax payments, with CENVAT credit prohibited for this purpose. Upon receipt of full payment details, the authority must issue Form VCES-3 acknowledgement of discharge within seven working days.

Taxability of construction services tied to timing of payment and conditions on CENVAT credit and land value inclusion.
Amendment clarifies that construction for sale is taxable where consideration is received wholly or partly before issuance of the completion certificate and distinguishes residential units meeting specified carpet area and price thresholds from other constructions. Taxability is subject to two conditions: CENVAT credit on inputs has not been taken under the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, and the value of land is included in the amount charged to the service receiver.

Service tax exemption for services against VKGUY duty credit scrips, subject to scrip registration and specified procedural conditions.
Exemption of service tax is granted for taxable services provided against a Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana duty credit scrip issued under the Foreign Trade Policy, subject to specified excluded export categories and conditions. Conditions include registration of the scrip with the Customs Authority, presentation of the scrip with an invoice issued under rule 4A, Customs debit recording the service tax that would have been leviable, written advice to the jurisdictional Central Excise Officer, treatment of the debit date as date of payment, obligations to pay any short-paid tax and interest, verification and validation by the Officer, retention of debited/validated scrip copies by the service provider, and entitlement to drawback or CENVAT credit against the debited service tax.

Service tax exemption for services against Focus Product Scheme scrips, subject to registration, debiting and validation procedures.
Exemption from service tax is provided for taxable services supplied against a Focus Product Scheme duty credit scrip, subject to conditions: scrip issuance for listed products, exclusion of specified export categories, registration of the scrip with the Customs Authority, presentation with invoice or challan identifying the jurisdictional Central Excise Officer, Customs debiting of the notional service tax on the scrip (treated as payment date), presentation of the debited scrip to the Officer within thirty days with an undertaking for any short debit, Officer validation and recordal, and entitlement to drawback or CENVAT credit against the debited and validated service tax.

Service tax exemption for Focus Market Scheme scrips: allowed subject to scrip registration, Customs debiting and officer validation.
Service tax exemption is provided for taxable services against Focus Market Scheme duty credit scrips issued for exports to notified countries, subject to exclusions. The scrip must be registered with Customs; Customs will debit the service tax on the scrip, notify the Central Excise Officer and the debit date is treated as date of payment. Short payments or tax timing differentials attract interest and must be remedied by the scrip holder. The debited and validated service tax may be used for drawback or CENVAT credit, and any amounts due are recoverable under the Finance Act.

Amendment to Service Tax Rules substitutes Forms ST-5, ST-6 and ST-7, updating appeal filing requirements.
The Service Tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2013 substitute the existing Forms S.T.-5, S.T.-6 and S.T.-7 appended to the Service Tax Rules with new Forms ST-5, ST-6 and ST-7, and set a commencement date for the substituted forms.

Resident public limited company specified as a class of persons for service tax notification, with statutory company and residency definitions.
The Central Government specifies resident public limited company as a class of persons under sub-clause (iii) of clause (b) of section 96A of the Finance Act, 1994 for service tax purposes. "Public limited company" adopts the Companies Act meaning and includes a private company becoming public by conversion; "resident" adopts the residency meaning applicable to companies under the Income-tax Act, thereby defining the scope of the notified class.

Service Tax amendments narrow specified exemptions and redefine covered services, altering copyright, restaurant and transport scopes.
The notification amends Notification No.25/2012-Service Tax by substituting wording in entry 9, replacing entries 15, 19 and 21 with narrowed exemption scopes (copyright transfers limited to certain works; restaurant exemptions for non air conditioned premises; specified goods transport agency exemptions including agricultural produce, small consignments, foodstuffs, fertilizers, registered newspapers, relief materials and defence equipment), omitting items in entry 20 and entry 24, limiting entry 25(b) to "a vessel", and altering clause (k) of the definitions by deleting an "or" and omitting a sub clause; the amendments commence 1st April, 2013.

Service tax on construction for sale imposes differential tax rates depending on residential unit size or transaction value.
Amendment substitutes entry 12 in Notification No.26/2012 to treat construction of a complex, building, civil structure or part thereof intended for sale as a taxable service where CENVAT credit on inputs has not been taken and the value of land is included in the amount charged; it prescribes differential tax rates for residential units meeting carpet-area or lower-amount criteria and for other cases, effective 1 March 2013.

Service Tax Amendment: extended ST-3 filing deadline and mandated a comprehensive revised ST-3 return format for reporting and CENVAT details.
Amendment to the Service Tax Rules, 1994 extends the submission date for Form ST-3 for the quarter after 1 July 2012 and substitutes Form ST-3 with a comprehensive revised return requiring identification particulars, classification of liability as provider or recipient, declaration of exemptions and abatements, detailed quarterly/monthly service-wise value reporting, separate provider/receiver schedules, tax payments and adjustments (including CENVAT credit utilization), arrears/interest/penalties with source documents, and dedicated schedules for Input Service Distributors and cess accounting, together with extensive completion instructions and an annexure listing taxable services.